On a busy Thursday morning in Gaborone, Botswana, a small van transporting a mock radioactive source was involved in a fake accident with two other vehicles. The staged accident was part of a large-scale radiological emergency simulation involving dozens of professionals as well as actors who played the role of accident victims. Experts from 21 other African countries gathered on the sidelines to learn from the exercise.
Local authorities were immediately alerted, and traffic police responded. The first arriving officer, carrying a personal detector, noticed that a radioactive source was involved. While firefighters and paramedics arrived to provide support, the officer quickly alerted the radiation protection authorities, who activated the national plan to respond to a radiological emergency. Following the instructions given by the incident commander, who coordinated efforts and prioritized actions on the scene, the first responders acted as part of a coordinated response to the emergency situation.
See this photo essay to learn how the exercise unfolded.
“A country needs a coherent emergency preparedness plan to ensure the safety of the environment and its people, including the professionals working with radioactive sources,” said Kenneth Gabanamotse, who was in charge of the exercise at the Botswana Radiation Protection Inspectorate (BRPI).
Organized by BRPI, with the support of the IAEA, the emergency exercise prepared Botswana to effectively respond to radiological emergencies and plan for recovery. The IAEA had prepared the local teams on responding to radiological emergencies, without giving away any details of the exercise.
Although very rare, emergency situations can occur when radioactive sources are used, usually due to human error or theft. There is a need to strengthen response to these emergencies worldwide.
From Botswana to Africa
With the support of the IAEA technical cooperation programme, 23 experts from 21 other African countries attended the exercise, experiencing first-hand how radiological emergency exercises like these are organized and executed. While only one of the participating countries operates a power plant, many operate research reactors and all use radioactive sources in health care, agriculture or industry. It was the first exercise of this magnitude that Botswana had ever organized, and the first time most of the participants attended such an event.
“Emergency preparedness and response is very important for Sudan because our use of radioactive sources is increasing in many fields, and in particular because Sudan is embarking on a nuclear power programme,” said Nahla Sulieman M. Fadlalla, Regulatory Officer at the Sudanese Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority.
“The exercise allowed us to compare the response of the Botswanan organizations to our own national procedures. It was also an opportunity for local responders to test their own arrangements and prepare for real emergencies,” Fadlalla said. “You might have a perfect plan, but only on paper. After this drill, if an accident happens, the locals are expected to respond naturally. It won’t be the very first time they face such a situation.”
The group of African experts that had observed it all realized that they face similar challenges at home. “The main challenge we share is to bring all relevant organizations together,” Fadlalla said, adding that the lessons learned will help officials to update and strengthen emergency preparedness and response plans in her country.
“When I get back to Cameroon, I will organize a training session to transmit what I’ve learned to other personnel involved in this field,” said Mârié Lydie Rose, Head of Safety and Radiological Emergencies at Cameroon’s National Radiation Protection Agency, adding that a similar exercise is planned in Cameroon for early 2017.
The exercise is adapted to the environment of the country, and takes into consideration the amount and type of resources available in African countries, said Pilar Murillo Fuentes, Programme Management Officer at the IAEA. “The idea was to use Botswana as an example to benefit the rest of the countries in the region.”
The IAEA develops standards and guidelines and works to define and promote common approaches to harmonize emergency response between countries. It carries out its work under the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, also known as the Early Notification Convention, and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, or the Assistance Convention.
You might have a perfect plan, but only on paper. After this drill, if an accident happens, the locals are expected to respond naturally. It won’t be the very first time they face such a situation.
